I'm wondering what the usual tapering looks like for Cymbalta. I've been on 90 mg of it for the past 6 month and want to taper off it. Yes I've talked with my pdoc and he assures me we will soon, just wondering how long this process will take. I've heard the horror stories and have tried it once cold turkey, that is why I'm trying to do it the right way. Just wanting to know what to expect. What do you do in your practice?

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2 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Dr G: tapering CymbaltaI'm wondering what the usual tapering looks like for Cymbalta. I've been on 90 mg of it for the past 6 month and want to taper off it. Yes I've talked with my pdoc and he assures me we will soon, just wondering how long this process will take. I've heard the horror stories and have tried it once cold turkey, that is why I'm trying to do it the right way. Just wanting to know what to expect. What do you do in your practice?

There are no specific or usual durations for tapering off Cymbalta since individual results vary. I personally usually reduce the dose by 30 mg every 5-7 days as limited by any emerging signs of nausea, dizziness or vertigo. There is no technical "withdrawal" from Cymbalta or other serotonergic antidepressants, but physiologically "discontinuation" symptoms such as these can sometimes happen -- annoying but not medically dangerous. In some instances if it proves quite difficult to stop Cymbalta I usually switch patients to fluoxetine (Prozac) for a couple of weeks which, because of its very long half-life, typically eliminates the problem of discontinuation effects.

There are no specific or usual durations for tapering off Cymbalta since individual results vary. I personally usually reduce the dose by 30 mg every 5-7 days as limited by any emerging signs of nausea, dizziness or vertigo. There is no technical "withdrawal" from Cymbalta or other serotonergic antidepressants, but physiologically "discontinuation" symptoms such as these can sometimes happen -- annoying but not medically dangerous. In some instances if it proves quite difficult to stop Cymbalta I usually switch patients to fluoxetine (Prozac) for a couple of weeks which, because of its very long half-life, typically eliminates the problem of discontinuation effects.

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